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Sunday 17 October 2021

When the clues assemble themselves



The man arrested by police following the killing of the MP Sir David Amess has been named as Ali Harbi Ali.

The 25-year-old is being held under the Terrorism Act and officers have until Friday to question him.

The BBC understands Mr Ali was referred to the counter-terrorist Prevent scheme some years ago, but was never a formal subject of interest to MI5.


It’s odd, but as soon as the news broke I was pretty sure that the alleged perpetrator’s name would not be something like Steve or Thomas. No doubt millions of others were equally sure - even internationally.

The observation isn’t meant to be particularly sarcastic because nutters kill innocent people all the time, but the clues seemed to assemble themselves within seconds. Stabbing, prominent victim, tardy reporting of any details about the alleged perpetrator. Even MPs will have guessed correctly within a matter of seconds. The clues assemble themselves.

6 comments:

Sam Vega said...

The tardy reporting is the clincher, isn't it? It raises the Mohammed coefficient more than anything else. Are the usual outlets all equally fearful of reprisals, or wary about jumping the gun, or are they got at by the authorities?

DiscoveredJoys said...

I have no fear of Islam, but I do fear the Islamists. Just as I fear other radical groups who place their faith or ideology above the lives of those who do not comply.

And there's the inflexion point. I'm willing to be courteous but not compelled. I'm willing to be tolerant but not subject to others' intolerance.

wiggiatlarge said...

The Harbi Ali's are very well respected in the shires, wont hear a bad word said about them........

Sobers said...

There was also the 'British citizen' description that the BBC threw about a lot early doors. Even after the name was made known they still were describing the suspect as 'a British citizen of Somali heritage'. When we all know that whatever the guy is, he's not British, he's Somalian.

dearieme said...

I remember that the US press went bananas at the time of the Oklahoma City bombing and implied it must have been Moslems. As if Islamist terrorists would waste their efforts on a city that nobody in the American ruling class gives a fig about!

Then the same damn fools speculated for some time that 9/11 wasn't an Islamist job. I dare say they were just being dishonest but it's possible that they were quite disconnected from reality.

A K Haart said...

Sam - I don't know the usual outlets are so wary. Maybe they are wary of upsetting official sources in case official sources become wary of them. Maybe it just creates the impression of being close to official sources but only if they all play the same game.

DJ - I don't really fear the Islamists because there are no obvious targets round here and other, more mundane risks are greater. It's the divisive and distorting nature of it which is so damaging.

Wiggia - is that the Somerset branch of the family or the Lancashire?

Sobers - yes I noticed the BBC's 'British citizen' description. Endlessly evasive.

dearieme - I can't tell if they are dishonest or disconnected from reality. It comes across as shallow in that an explanation pops up to suit one event at one time and different explanation pops up to suit another similar event at another time. Like a weak memory.